Gone
by SamwiseAtHeart
Summary: Bo and Luke run through the forest from an unknown enemy who are taking shots at them. Will the Duke boys escape and live to see the morning? TISSUE WARNING
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone and welcome to my next fic. This one is promising to be real short, maybe just one more chapter after this one. I also hope that everyone has a very merry Christmas

Disclaimer: I hereby declair that I have no claim over the rights of the Dukes of Hazzard. I officially declair that I do not own the rights but that I love to write using the characters from the above said tv show. I also officially declair that I have a great dislike of the recent movie that came out. That is one tasteless piece of trash that I have no part in writing. I declair that this piece of fiction and all other fics that I write will have nothing to do with the characters or actors that piece of garbage of a movie. Dukes of Hazzard the tv show is the best.

Summary: Bo and Luke run through the forest from an unknown enemy. Will they escape and live to see the morning? TISSUE WARNING

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**Gone**

The darkened forest was quiet until the sound of running feet disturbed the stillness of the night. Those feet were attached to legs that were clothed in blue denim. Hard breathing was heard as the young man who owned those legs ran through the forest. The blueness of his plaid shirt was nowhere near as blue or piercing as the deep sapphire of his knowing eyes. The young man's alert blue orbs were squinted as he observed the terrain ahead. He took a quick glance behind him but then turned forward again increasing his speed as he saw that the people who were pursuing him were closer than he thought they originally were.

"Bo! Bo where are you cousin!?" the young man yelled looking around the terrain as he continued to run from those who were following. He caught sight of a glint of yellow just ahead behind a tree.

"I'm here Luke, what's going on?"

Luke gasped, "Bo Run!" he grabbed Bo's arm while passing by at a sprint. Bo picked up his pace but took a glance backwards. He could see several guys in black yelling angrily. Bo's eyes went wide and he booked it even faster, pulling ahead of Luke.

"Luke there's a cave up ahead, we'll be safe there."

Luke nodded, panting all the harder at the effort of running at this pace for so long. He was catching up to Bo when suddenly Luke heard the sound of something that he hoped he would never have to hear again at close range. Gunshots! At that earth shattering sound, the dark haired Luke looked ahead and saw his cousin stumble.

"Bo!" Luke faltered in his step when Bo turned around with a pained look on his face. The yellow of the young blonde's shirt suddenly had two spots of crimson red, one just below the ribs, and one on the left side of his chest. The red dribbled down the shirt as Bo and Luke made eye contact. Bo could feel himself getting weak. "Luke…" He managed to gasp out the name of his cousin before he crumpled to the ground.

Luke was in shock from what he just saw happen, but he could hear the shouts of the pursuers getting closer. Luke buried the lump in his throat and his shock as his Marine training kicked into gear. He ran forward and picked up his cousin who was now lying on the ground in a heap and heaved him over his shoulders, not wanting to leave Bo behind for the enemy to do what they will to him.

"Hang on Bo, we're gonna get out of here." Luke told his cousin as he turned to the left and ran as hard as his legs would take him in that direction. The training that had been drilled into his head from the marines assessed the situation and advised him that it was not safe to go the direction that he had originally been going since Bo had been shot from the front. The adrenaline rushing through Luke's veins made it possible for the young man to speed up and get far ahead of the pursuers, who were not even trying to be stealthy, despite the weight of his cousin upon his shoulders. Luke with just a little more time was able to pull away from the angry shouts and sounds of gunshots that had been following him ever since he had begun running from the enemy.

Luke ran just a little farther and found that the surroundings were somewhat familiar. This was the area that Bo said the cave was near. Luke slowed down and quickly looked about for the cave. His persistence was rewarded when he moved a branch and found a well hidden, small, and dark opening. He carefully leaned down and brought himself as well as Bo into the relative darkness of the cavern that was behind the tiny entrance hole.

With great care, Luke slid his wounded blonde haired cousin off his shoulders and brought him gently to the ground. Luke looked over Bo, grimacing at the blood that was now covering virtually all over his cousin's shirt. Looking away from the horrible site of his cousin's blood, he focused on his next task at hand... to see if Bo was alive. Luke placed two fingers on Bo's neck hoping and praying for a pulse. A small twitch of his cheek was the only sign from Luke that told that he knew that Bo was alive. It was nothing more than that because the pulse he felt was faint and thready which was definitely not a good sign. Luke took a sharp breath in as he looked over at Bo's face. The sun browned tan that was Bo's natural color was gone. In its place was a ghostly, pasty white that made Luke shudder. Luke tried not to pay attention to his cousin's skin color as he sat down on the ground, put Bo's head in his lap and then looked at the blonde's beautiful, slender face.

"Bo, cousin. Can you hear me?" the sapphire eyed young man said as he brushed his fingers through his cousin's blonde locks and grabbing hold of Bo's hand with his other hand. Luke watched as Bo's eye lids fluttered for a moment, and then the baby blues peaked open meeting with the sapphire ones that were just above them. "There you are cousin." Luke said with a half smile.

Bo gave a half smile right back but then grimaced as he began to cough, painful hacking ones that brought up a little trickle of blood to the side of his mouth. With the strain of those coughs and the strain of being conscious, Bo's breathing swiftly became quick and erratic as he struggled to breathe.

Despite being in so much pain and coughing so hard, Bo could see that Luke was worried about him. Luke hadn't said that he was going to be alright. That meant that things were bad. Very bad. Luke would never lie to him, which verified what he already knew… Bo could feel that his life force was waning. With every breath he took and every beat of his heart, more of his blood pooled beneath him on the ground. Bo knew that he had only a few precious seconds left to live, so he spent it by doing something that would hopefully help his cousin. Bo covered the frightened and hurt look in his eye and tried to convey that everything was going to be alright, and that Luke shouldn't blame himself for what happened, through those expressive baby blues of his. Bo took as deep a breath he could in, mustered the last of his strength, and gave Luke's hand a squeeze. It was a small squeeze, but Luke was able to feel it, and what Bo was telling him through it… Goodbye.

"Bo…" Luke choked out. A tear formed at the edge of his eye, but he held it in as he clasped his dying cousin's hand in a firm grip.

Bo continued to keep his eyes on Luke and squeeze his hand for as long as he had strength. Soon though, Bo's grip began to loosen and became nothing as his eyes slowly began to glass over. Bo's breathing became increasingly shallow until finally there was that one breath that Luke had heard all too many times while out on the battlefield. Bo let in a sharp intake and then a long, loud, drawn out exhale.

Luke watched as Bo took his last few breaths. The spark in his little cousin's eye had been dulling as Bo struggled to breathe. It was a shock to Luke when he heard the sharp intake of breath, and then saw the sudden vacant look that had just come to Bo's eyes as he exhaled his last.

No. This could not happen… not to someone so close to him. Luke's eyes filled with tears as he lifted Bo's upper body and then held him in his arms.

"No Bo… please don't go. Come back to me. Bo… I need you cousin. I need you brother." Luke's tears began to fall. The tears turned into sobs. Luke's tears formed rivers down his cheeks that reached down his entire face, creating mini ponds on the one small part of Bo's shirt that was still yellow. He held Bo tight to him, leaning his head against Bo's shoulder and silently crying.

"Bo…" Luke whispered. He then looked up into the pale vacant face of his cousin and realized something. Bo, his best friend, the one he was holding would never answer him again. Bo was dead... Gone. No longer among the living… Luke suddenly lost his self control and let his tears become what they wanted to be from the beginning. The tears became gut wrenching sobs as Luke wept over the loss of his cousin, his dearest friend who was closer than a brother. A lone mournful howl coming from a coyote not too far away expressed the young man's brokenhearted mood perfectly.

Finally getting some form of control of himself a few minutes later, Luke gently laid his cousin down and lightly placed one of his hands over Bo's eyes, and closed those baby blues forever. His lip quivered… Bo would never look out from them again.

Luke slowly stood up and stepped away from his cousin needing a little air. He took a step or two out from the entrance of the cavern and into the twilit forest. The sapphire eyed man stood out there for a few minutes, not enjoying any second of it. How could he? The one he most cared for was gone. Luke stopped pacing and stood there unmoving, stiff as a statue, with fists clenched, and eyes raised toward the starry heavens. Tears filled those expressive eyes as they bored into the heavens looking upset.

"Why did you take him…?" He asked softly, his voice quivering unsurely. He had never questioned the wisdom and judgment of Him who is Above, before. Luke took a breath and continued a little more surely. "Why did you take him? It wasn't his time." Luke took another hitched breath in. Suddenly the sad emptiness he had been feeling since Bo had been taken flared into anger. He looked up again, a deep scowl on his face and shouted "WHYYYY!!!!!!?" He just couldn't believe it. This was not right. Bo wasn't supposed to die this way… he was. Luke took another deep breath in and shouted even louder, "WHYYYY!!!!!?"

Luke paused after that last shout and quieted down after the sound of his angry cry quit echoing through the woods. With a thought he decided he wouldn't yell like that again. He couldn't defy Him anymore. His uncle Jesse had raised him better then that and he knew it.

Luke dropped to his knees drained and exhausted and yet he couldn't help but place his hands over his face and sob in great grief once again. The soft evening air did nothing to soothe his aching soul. With deep cries of pain and anguish over the loss of his closest friend, he sobbed to himself repeating the word "why" over and over and over. Luke was oblivious to everything in the outside world as he knelt there in grieving over the loss of his cousin. He was so caught up in his anguish and sorrow that he wasn't able to sense the shadow that had slowly crept up from behind. Luke didn't even hear the crack of a twig that snapped under a toe, just before he felt a sharp pain in the head… And then the Duke boy knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again. I know that most of you have been hoping for this for a while now. I'll not delay you any further. Let me just say that I hope you all had a happy new year.

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**Gone Chapter 2**

Pain. Deep aching pain was all that he felt as his mind slowly came out of the darkness. Physical pain, his body hurt all over, but that wasn't near as bad as what he felt in his heart. Luke tried to make sense of his clouded thoughts, through the dull throbbing pain, and tried to think back to what had happened before he had blacked out. Suddenly Luke trembled as he remembered. Trees… running… Bo… gunshots… blood… death… crying… anger… grief... "Bo." Luke half whispered, half choked out as his body involuntarily shook again.

Suddenly the slow ache his body had been feeling since coming back into consciousness erupted into a fiery pain. It was as if a thousand red hot pokers pierced his skin all at once, over and over and over again.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Luke's scream cut through the thick humid air as a high voltage electric shock passed through his body. The excruciating pain continued on and on for what seemed like forever. Luke was tied down on a table, making him unable to curl up into a ball like he desperately wanted to do in order to try and ease his suffering. All he could do was shake and jerk as the jolts kept going through his body. Finally the agonizing voltage ceased and the shaking figure on the table was granted a reprieve. His body continued to jerk even after the electricity stopped as it tried to slow down the pace of his heart and regulate his breathing.

Seconds after the shock ended and his shaking slowed, Luke forced his eyes open despite the pain he had just gone through. He was able to discern his surroundings through the haze of his pain. He was tied down to a table in a small quickly put together hut. From the sounds of screaming coming from outside, he could tell that he was in some sort of camp where others were being treated like he was. The sapphire eyes focused and found that there were two men at the doorway to his shack standing guard, and that there was one man standing over him. The man who was standing over Luke leaned over and leered at the injured Duke boy. A spark of recognition passed through Luke's eye just before the leering man punched him in the jaw.

He was a captive of the Viet Cong.

Luke grunted in pain as the Viet Cong officer dislocated his jaw with the severity of the punch. He closed his eyes as he tried to force the tears that were forming to go away. Finally getting control of his tears and his pain, Luke opened his eyes and glared at the officer. "No." He managed to say through his busted jaw.

The Viet Cong chuckled as he saw the fierce defiant look in his prey. He smirked. "No what?" the officer asked in a heavy Asian accent. He chuckled again and the eyes of the marine on the table. "No this?" the officer pressed a switch sending a wave of electricity even stronger than the first one through the brunette's body. The officer held still watching the screaming, jerking, and twitching of the man in pure agony on the table. He flipped the switch off after a minute and let the marine recover his senses.

Luke lay on the table breathing hard, sweating, and twitching uncontrollably. He hoped beyond all hope that his heart would stop racing and return to its normal rhythmic beat. After a moment, his heart did slow down some. Enough for the marine to feel comfortable enough to peek open his eyes and face the Viet Cong officer again.

"Good, you awake." The officer said when he saw the sapphire blues. "Wanna show something to you…"

Luke glared as the Viet Cong man began to move to the other side of the hut and rummaged through a pile on the floor as he said in broken English. "You run earlier yes? We caught you…" The officer came back over to Luke holding something in the marine's sight, but keeping another behind his back.

The thing was a collared shirt crimson red, dried and crusty with specks of yellow. It wasn't just any shirt. It was Bo's shirt. The shirt Bo was wearing when he…Luke gulped… when he was killed. If the Viet Cong had it that meant that they had Bo's body. The enemy had access to Bo's body… oh no.

"Bo." Luke choked out alarmed.

"Ah so he was close to you." The Viet Cong officer said smirking a little at the choked out word his prisoner said and the subsequent frightened look that came afterwards. "My men, we had some fun with him." He taunted further pulling the other thing out from behind his back. Luke could see that the officer was holding a belt with an ovular jeweled buckle and a pair of jeans.

Luke's eyes went wide as he understood exactly what the Viet Cong did with his cousin.

"NOOOO!!!!!!!!"

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"NOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Luke jerked as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He struck the hand and pulled away as far as he could from it. "Don't touch me!" he yelled.

"Sarge! Sarge it's okay. Open your eyes. Just open your eyes. It was only a dream."

At the sound of a familiar young man's voice, Luke calmed down. "Luke… It was that dream again. Open your eyes for me Sarge, you won't regret it." At the insistence of the young man's voice, Luke slowly opened his eyes and cautiously took inventory of his surroundings. He was on a bus and there was a young man sitting next to him. He looked into the young man's big blue eyes and thought a moment trying to clear his head enough to place how he knew the man, and why they were on a bus.

After looking a few seconds the cobwebs cleared, and it finally it registered who the young man was. It was Bobby Wilson from Chickasaw County. Private Bobby Wilson. Yes, that was it, and he was Lukas K. Duke, Sergeant of company number 1349 stationed in Vietnam, but now they were out of the battle zone and they were both headed home.

"Are you okay now Sarge?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah Bobby." Luke answered softly, trying not to agitate his barely healing jaw. He turned his head to the window and stared out the glass forlornly turning back to his thoughts. Home… what a wonderful word that is. It meant that he would be back in Hazzard County, where the only weapons you needed to worry about was the shotgun of an angry father of the pretty girls, and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane's police issued gun. A small smile crossed Luke's face. What he wouldn't give to see Rosco stuttering and flustered after getting a tongue lashing from Boss Hogg, for not catching him or Bo on a shine ru-… Bo… Home meant Bo. It meant that Bo would be there. If Bo was there than it meant that Bo was alive. Home meant that Bo wasn't dead.

…But that dream was… Luke couldn't really describe it. He wasn't sure what was real and what was not. The Duke boy trembled as he could feel the shuddering breaths of Bo as the blonde breathed his last. He felt the squeeze of Bo's hand. He felt the coldness of Bo's body when his spirit was gone. Luke saw the blank staring of his cousin's lifeless eyes. He saw the blood. So much blood... It was more than he had ever seen from one person while out on the battlefields. He could feel the pain of the loss of his brother. He could feel the pain of waking to the electricity, the pain of having a jaw not in its right place, and he could really feel emptiness at knowing that Bo's body was so horribly desecrated.

Oh the torture was very real. Luke gently stroked his slightly pained jaw and looked down at himself. His big bandages covering the long gashes on his legs had been removed and replaced with smaller ones just before getting on the airplane back to the states. His legs had been severely infected to the point of nearly having to have them amputated. They were now mostly healed, but the wounds that were inflicted upon him were still there. Luke's left arm and fingers were in casts from being fractured and broken in many places. And there were now faint scars of where the Viet Cong had placed red hot brands on his tender skin. Those were the only things that Luke could distinctly remember, but Luke could vaguely remember feeling other kinds of pain in places that he hadn't even known he had.

In any case, the Viet Cong had most definitely hurt him. In more way than one… Luke's squad was ambushed while they were on a mission. Nearly all of his men were killed in the battle. He and Bobby were two of the few who survived the attack, and the only two from their group to have survived being a Prisoner of War. It wasn't easy surviving either, both Luke and Bobby were tortured mercilessly in body and mind for just over five months. The Viet Cong had gotten into their heads and tainted their thoughts to only those of misery. Luke had been tortured to the point that every time he closed his eyes, he saw his beloved cousin shot, killed, and molested. In body he was tortured to the point that he was a mere inch from death before the Americans finally came in and rescued him and Bobby from their grisly fate.

Luke sighed… Their rescue was only three weeks ago. And now they were going home... Home from the torture, home from the pain, and with any luck, home from those danged dreams. Luke hoped that once he saw Bo, and saw that his beloved cousin was alive and not shot dead, that the dreams would go away. He hoped that they would stop haunting him and making him relive over and over some of the things that no man should **ever** be put through.

"Luke, look out the window, you're almost home." Bobby said, pulling Luke out of his thoughts. Luke looked back out the window and saw that Bobby was right. The bus was entering Hazzard. They had just passed the small rickety old sign that had been there for the last century that welcomed all who drove by into their humble county.

Luke looked ahead and watched as the bus moved into his home territory. He grew up on these roads and knew them like the back of his hand. He smiled a little with some of the memories associated with those roads. Turning his head again he looked at the trees as they whizzed by. They looked a lot like the trees did when he was being chased by the Viet Cong through the forest with Bo. No wait, that couldn't be right. Bo wasn't in 'Nam.

"Luke, get a hold of yourself, you're goin' crazy." He mumbled to himself.

"Did you say somethin' Luke?" Bobby asked after hearing a mumble from the young man beside him.

"No." He sighed. "I'm just ready ta go home…"

Bobby put his hand on Luke's shoulder "I hear ya Sarge, me too."

Luke placed his own hand on Bobby's shoulder and the two of them stayed that way, each with an understanding of how the other was feeling. It was good comfort for the both of them that there was someone who knew exactly the horrors that had happened to them. Nonverbally they had an understanding that they would have the other close by (only a county away) if and when they needed to talk about it. Luke and Bobby sat looking out the window together until the bus slowly came to a stop at the Hazzard County bus stop. The stop was placed according to Boss Hogg, "conveniently in front of the police station," just in case there was trouble.

"Luke, you're home." Bobby lightly nudged Luke who was still staring out the window a minute after the bus quit moving. Luke slowly turned his head and nodded. Bobby noticed the unsure and troubled look that was on Luke's face and understood precisely what his companion was feeling. He sighed and stood up taking Luke's bag into his hands. "I'll just take this outside for you."

"Thanks Bobby." Luke said and turned back to the window pressing his forehead to the glass. '_Come on Luke, you can do this. Just stand up and go to the front of the bus. You know that Bo is waiting.'_ He couldn't help but think, '_But what if he isn't? What if he really is dead?' _His better judgment countered, '_Come on Luke, you know better then that. Bo is just outside. He was not with you in 'Nam. Get a grip, Just get up and go.' _"Fine." He told himself. Luke grabbed hold of the crutch he was required to use for another couple daysand slowly stood up.

Limping slightly, he took the steps through the aisle to the front of the bus where he suddenly paused again. He closed his eyes and told himself off, upset that he even hesitated. He told himself that everything was going to be alright and that the three people he loved the most are standing not twenty feet away, waiting for him to get off the bus.

Up to this point, Luke hadn't looked the direction that his family was. He had been too afraid of what he would or wouldn't find there, but when he finally told himself that his family was there and that nothing was wrong, Luke finally turned his head and looked out the open bus door.

And he was right. There they were standing only fifteen feet away. There was Uncle Jesse looking just like he did three years ago when he left, wearing his old tan shirt and overalls with the red cap Aunt Martha gave him years ago atop his head. Luke stepped down the first step. And there was Daisy, his beautiful now twenty year old cousin. Boy was she gorgeous. Those three years had definitely been good to her figure. Luke stepped down the second and last step. And there he was, the young man who had been in all his haunted dreams. Only this was far from one of those dreams. He wasn't dead, or almost dead. There wasn't any blood. He was just standing there, tall and slender smiling happily and he was very much alive...

"Bo!" He yelled excited and relieved.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again everyone. This is the final chapter of "Gone." I hope you all have enjoyed this story. I'd like to thank all of you my readers and especially to those who reviewed. Those comments that were given are all cherished. Thanks for being such great people. Now without further ado here is the finale.

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**Gone Chapter 3**

The reunion of The Duke family was an event that was happier than any other event any of them had ever experienced. Jesse, Daisy, and Bo had believed for going on six months that Luke was dead. They had been told that Luke's squad had been attacked and that he had been reported MIA and presumed dead. Those months afterward had been so hard, especially for Bo who had such a strong bond with his older cousin. When they got a call two weeks ago that Luke had been a POW but was found and was being cared for in a hospital far away from the battle zone, they were ecstatic. And as for Luke, going home away from battle and away from daily torture was the best thing he could ask for in the entire world.

There was many a hug and constant physical contact between and Luke, Daisy, Bo, and Uncle Jesse when they embraced the marine back into their world. Bo was in the lead, but all three of the Hazzard Dukes ran forward and held onto Luke after his one word cry to his little cousin.

After dozens of hugs from his blonde cousin and a car ride home to the farm, Luke finally smiled, his fears that Bo was dead allayed. If that boy who had been talking his ear off for the last twenty minutes was dead, then he was a fish's big toe.

Uncle Jesse let Luke settle back into the farm relatively unhounded. He sent Luke up into the bedroom he shared with Bo and told him to unpack and then to rest. He then asked that Bo and Daisy stay in the kitchen for a minute because he needed to tell them something.

When his nice and nephew were setting at the kitchen table, Jesse cleared his throat and began to say what he needed to say. "Now Daisy, Bo, ya may be wonderin' what I have ya here in the kitchen for. I just wanna remind ya that Luke has been through a lot." He placed a hand on Bo's shoulder. " I know yer feelin' real excited seein' him home after thinkin' we'd never see him again, so am I. But we gotta give him some space." Jesse placed his other hand on Daisy's shoulder. "Ya may ask why, so I'll tell ya why… Bein' in a war changes a man, believe me, I've been through one. But ya gotta know that bein' a prisoner of war changes a man even more." He looked back and forth between Bo and Daisy "Now I ain't sayin' don't talk ta him, by all means talk with him an' show him some love, The Good Lord knows he needs it. But when he needs ta be alone, ya let him be. Ya hear?"

"Yes sir." Daisy and Bo both let their uncle know that they understood.

Bo understood, but being so excited to have his cousin back, he impulsively asked Jesse if it would be okay to go out fishing with Luke. The Duke elder just smiled and shook his head knowing Bo, and answered, "If he's up to it. Don't push him if he doesn't wanna."

Bo curbed the whoop he would have normally done to turning it into an unusually big grin. Thanking Jesse, Bo ran up the stairs and into his and Luke's room. He saw that Luke was laying on his bed appeared to be resting, but instead of being relaxed, his cousin's eyes were open and alert and he looked tense too.

"You okay Luke?" the blonde cautiously asked stepping into the room and sitting on his own bed.

"I'll be alright Bo." Luke answered shortly, not wanting to divulge the thoughts he had just been thinking about. Those thoughts were about the dream again, he did not want Bo to know what the Viet Cong had really done to him. It was not something he would share willingly with anyone. Luke realized though that he had used a tone of voice that he had never used on Bo. He sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry Bo."

"For what cousin?" Bo asked not taking offense at Luke's tone of voice. "Ya didn't do anythin' an' my feelings ain't hurt."

Bo smiled with a twinkle in his eye, ready to propose his idea. "There ain't nothin' ta be sorry for 'cept for not gettin' ta go fishing with you these last three years. Whadda ya say cousin, would you like ta catch up on those times an' go fishin' with me?" Bo looked at Luke turning on his pouty puppy dog eye look that could get him anything.

Luke watched with amusement his cousin gave him the puppy dog look. He was so good at that. The marine recalled back in the day the things that those eyes helped Bo to pull off and get away with. He could only imagine what Bo could do with them now. But he didn't need to pull those eyes on him though, fishing sounded great. It meant that he could relax and do something that he loved. It also meant that he would be with Bo and would be able to be there… just in case something happened out there in the woods.

Luke truly smiled for the first time since being back. In fact the marine began to laugh. That act alone had become foreign to him, but now that his body was doing it, he couldn't stop. And it felt absolutely amazing. He couldn't help but laugh. It was funny… Bo was being funny with his big blue eyes and that quivering bottom lip.

His sapphire eyes twinkled to life again with the spark that was the old Luke. He said with a smile "I'd love to Bo, but I think ya ought to bring yer guitar. You may want somethin' ta do when I do all the catchin' an' you get all the nothin'."

Bo smiled like he hadn't smiled in years. Luke had just said yes and initiated some teasing. The teasing was something he wasn't sure Luke would do so soon after coming home from war. But it was something that he had hoped would happen ever since he heard that Luke was still alive. Now for that smart-alec comment. Luke couldn't do that and get away with it if he had anything to say about it… especially since he started it.

"Cousin, you may catch all the fish, but with the extra practice, my guitar and I 'll catch things much prettier than a couple ol' catfish."

Luke got up from off the bed and laughed again draping an arm over Bo's shoulders and headed out the door. This is one thing that he had missed. Through all of all that misery in war, Luke had forgotten just how fun it was teasing his cousin in matches of witty banter. But those evil times were over and now he was ready to really sling it at the unsuspecting Bo.

About a half hour later the two boys were no longer on the farm. They were now sitting down in the sun by the side of Hazzard Pond with their lines in the water still throwing back and forth very clever arrangements of words and wit.

"Bo, with your face 'round here, all the fish have gone up the creek an' are happy there without a paddle. 's why we ain't caught nothin' yet."

"Cousin, you're just jealous of my good looks… everyone knows it's you who's scarin' away all them fish…"

Some time later the boys grew tired of teasing each other and just sat still and enjoying each other's company despite still not catching any fish. Eventually though, Bo couldn't sit still. Something was on his mind and he just had to ask Luke. The two of them had talked about this before Luke had gone off into the marines and Bo was just as excited now if not more so than when this idea was originally thought up.

So Bo broke the silence by blurting out. "Luke, remember that car we were planning before you left? Well Cooter told me yesterday that he's found a real nice engine for pretty cheap. It might be fun to put our old plan into reality. What do you think?"

Luke smiled. Good ol' Bo. Luke didn't forget some of the things written in the letters from his cousin. They were all about the NASCAR circuit and how certain drivers were doing. Bo also mentioned how he was doing being taught by Uncle Jesse some of the old Ridge Raider's tricks. Luke was grateful for all that. It made him feel closer to home while out there in the jungles.

Bo mentioning this car though, made him think back on some of the goals he had set when he was just a youngin'. All those goals really didn't seem all that far away anymore. And with Bo finding the resources to put one of them into reality… '_What the heck am I waiting for?'_ Luke asked himself.

He smiled. "What kind of engine is it?" Luke asked ready to engage in the car talk Bo so desperately wanted. Bo didn't hesitate to answer with a grin that question and then tell Luke all about what parts that he had collected already and how they could fairly easily get the rest. Bo and Luke sat and talked about and planned the car that they were going to build together. They spent a good hour working on it until it started to get to be late afternoon and Luke nodded off out of pure exhaustion.

Bo sat there quietly, knowing that Luke needed his rest so he didn't disturb him. The blonde haired young man watched Luke as he snoozed and saw that his cousin had changed some while over there in Vietnam. Bo saw the bags under Luke's eyes, and could definitely see the weight loss which was the effect of the stay in the Viet Cong prison camp. Bo could see the careworn lines on his cousin's too thin face. _What could have happened to caused those? _Bo would never know… In spite of all the bad things he could see, Bo could also see the positive effect of being home had already done on his battle worn cousin. He saw the spark that was the Luke from before coming back when they teased each other and when they were talking about that car. He saw the true smile and the relief of the laugh that had happened in their bedroom and a few more times since. Yes, slowly but surely, Hazzard County Luke, though slightly changed, was coming back.

Luke couldn't hold his eyes open any longer and so on their own accord they closed and he was thrown into an unwanted slumber. Luke opened his eyes and there he was back in the dark forest. He held so desperately still hoping that the enemy wouldn't see him. But no… they did. He heard the yelling, gunshots and the sounds of running feet in the underbrush. Well he couldn't just stand there… that was suicide. So he ran. And he looked for his cousin that he knew was in the woods.

Bo among his thoughts saw Luke's sleeping form suddenly tense and shake. He _must have been having quite a nightmare._ Bo gently reached over to his cousin and shook on Luke's shoulder. "Luke, wake up."

"Bo!" Luke bolted awake, standing up stiff as a statue. His eyes went straight to his cousin who sat there shocked. "Shhhh…" Luke whispered as he started listening and looking intently for the enemy. Alert for any sound or movement, Luke limped forward, silently as a cat stalking a mouse looking for anything out of the ordinary. A twig snapped and Luke reacted.

"Bo run!" Luke yelled starting to run forward. Bo did as he was told and started running after Luke who had started to limp-run the opposite direction the twig had snapped.

"Luke what's going on?" Bo quickly passed up his cousin.

"Run behind me." Luke said urgently. Bo slowed down and ran behind Luke keeping close to his older cousin. Bo looked behind and saw that there was nothing chasing them or anything of danger that was anywhere near them.

"Luke there's nothing out there."

"Quiet Bo. I don't want you to get killed." _…again._ He thought. Luke pressed onward and then turned to the side doubling back that way the enemy would likely get confused. He slowed his pace down and settled into a stealthy creep with Bo just behind. Bo decided to play along and let whatever was bothering Luke get out of his system. He knew that nothing was wrong, and he also knew that Luke probably didn't realize he was home in Hazzard and not in the jungled nightmares which Bo was sure that his cousin had just been dreaming about. The blonde figured it was better for Luke to learn for himself that there was no danger and that he didn't have to run, than to be told so. He knew that it's one thing for the mind understand something and a completely other thing letting the body know it. Any time now though, Luke would figure it out. Bo was sure of it.

Luke stealthily crept forward, coming into sight of where they had just left minutes before. Their fishing poles were still right where they had left them. The blanket they had laid on the ground was just as it was after they had gotten up and bolted off. Ruffled.

Luke shushed Bo again and really strained his senses trying to find the enemy that he knew had to be there. Then he heard it. Another twig snapped and there was some rustling in some bushes in the same place where he heard it the first time. Luke motioned Bo to stay still while he crept up behind and took a look. The marine silently walked around stalking whatever the enemy in the bushes was. This was it, no more running. He needed to catch whoever it was that was after them. Slowly and oh so carefully Luke inched forward to the offending bush. The marine pulled out his trusty knife that he had kept on his belt and switched out the blade. Luke crouched down low and listened for breathing… and he heard it. Something… no someone was definitely alive in there. The bushes rustled again and then Luke attacked. He leaped into the bush bringing down the knife in a mighty slash.

A loud squealing sound pierced the air as the wild boar that was in the bush reacted to the pain of the slash that had cut through its side. It thrashed around trying to run from the predator that had so horribly wounded it.

Luke heard the squeal and then quickly dispatched the animal with another slice of his knife, putting the wounded creature out if it's misery.

Cleaning off his blade, it suddenly it registered to the marine... The thing in the bush wasn't a Viet Cong. It was just a wild boar. What he had thought was the enemy was merely something that he and Bo had hunted in their county for years…

_The enemy is gone._ The real enemy was gone. Luke looked from side to side and only saw the afternoon sun shining on the trees of Hazzard County. There was no danger here. There was no enemy. Luke sighed and picked up the dead boar and then walked over to Bo, knowing the truth but not knowing what to say.

Bo saw the look on Luke's face and decided not to push anything. Instead he decided to react to what just happened with a bit of humor.

"Well cousin, it looks like you caught something. It's bigger than a catfish, but it really ain't all that pretty." He laughed when Luke half smiled.

"It's prettier 'n some things I've seen." Luke said slowly, imagining again his cousin covered in blood, dead in that dark cave.

Again, Bo could see that Luke was thinking back on his experience in war. This time though, he decided to see if Luke would say anything more. "Wanna talk about it?" the blonde asked meekly.

"Not really Bo, but I think I oughtta… It'd explain why I just put you through this wild goose… uh… wild boar chase." He said trying to make a joke out of the seriousness of the topic.

Luke quieted down and motioned to the pig in his arms. With the help out his cousin, they tied the boar to a tree to let it hang while they talked. Soon they settled down back on their blanket by the pond. Luke hadn't said a word yet since his feeble joke. He was busy struggling with his feeling again. Bo watched as several conflicting and troubling looks went across Luke's face. Finally he saw a look of determination as Luke defeated what bad thought he had, and was now ready to speak.

"Bo… I was a prisoner of war." He started, and Bo listened intently. "They did things to me. Things I ain't ready ta tell anyone about." Luke shuddered. "But I gotta tell ya about this… thing I've been struggling with for the last six months." Luke paused again. But then he gained the courage and launched into what was troubling him and why he had told Bo to run. Luke told Bo about the dream that had been plaguing him ever since about a week into being a POW.

Luke watched the shocked expression on his little cousin's face as he told him the gory details of seeing him shot and killed. Luke reluctantly told Bo some details of the electric torture, and the final thing that plagued his dream… seeing the Viet Cong with his little cousin's pants and laughing unmercifully. The marine watched as Bo's eyes filled with understanding and empathetic pain. How could they have done something so horrible to a human being? Making him relive something that horrific over and over… That just wasn't right.

Bo choked up and couldn't say anything. It was just as hard for Bo to hear as it was for Luke to tell it. Instead, Bo scooted over and embraced his cousin in a hug that both of them needed after this painful and emotional revelation. Luke who normally wasn't the type to engage in outer feelings of love embraced the hug that his little cousin offered, and he did so gratefully. Luke held onto Bo's shoulders tightly as he began to cry into the soft yellow fabric of his cousin's shirt. Softly the tears came at first, but soon all the stress and hurt he had experienced came out in wracking sobs as the tears rolled uncontrollably down his face.

Bo gently rubbed Luke's back in small soothing circles, trying to somehow comfort his cousin who had been hurt so badly "Luke, it's going to be okay." He whispered. "Everything is going to be okay."

Luke cried for a while, but soon he choked back his tears at the sound of Bo's calming and sure voice that kept on saying the same thing over and over again. Hearing those words from his cousin… made it sound like it would actually happen. He might actually be okay… Luke sniffed and pulled away leaving one arm over Bo's shoulder.

"Thank you Bo."

"No problem cousin."

With the help of his cousins and Uncle, Luke was indeed able to be okay. It took a while and a lot of moral support from his family, but soon Luke was no longer seeing the horrors of the dream every time he closed his eyes, which was a blessing. Luke and Bo bought the engine that Cooter had spotted and soon they were building around it a car that would one day become a legend in Hazzard County.

But that all happened later… back at the pond Luke and Bo stood up after their emotional outpouring and dried off all their tears. When there was no more blurry eyes, the two Duke boys noticed the hanging animal in the tree.

Ready to let the past be the past and ready to finally begin to heal, Luke looked at Bo with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face.

"I wonder what Uncle Jesse'll think when we come back with wild boar instead of fish..."

Bo and Luke looked at each other then to the boar, and then back to each other. And then they both laughed.

The End


End file.
